Saturday, October 16, 2010

Lou Garbus Memorial Blog: Lou Garbus 15 October 1917 ~ 11 October 2010

Lou Garbus Memorial Blog: Lou Garbus 15 October 1917 ~ 11 October 2010: "Dear Friends and Family of Lou Garbus (a.k.a Louie) With a heavy heart I report that dad died suddenly this afternoon in Belfast, Maine in ..."


SATURDAY, OCTOBER 16, 2010




Lou approved of this portrait of him, he thought it was accurate, I remember him laughing and saying "wow, you got the hands". He particularly liked how I captured his knuckles, and I was impressed with myself for having impressed Lou.

I first Met Lou in his old farm house kitchen in Maine, It was deepest of winter and Lou was holding court and working the crowd, I should say in typical Lou style, but here's the deal, this is also my style, I knew I had finally met my match on the talking front.

When I learnt that Lou was a photographer I reached in my pocket and pulled out a Leica proclaiming hey I'm also a photographer. His reaction was "wow a Leica, you earn too much money". He turned to my girlfriend and laughingly in a stage whisper said "you should marry this boy, he can provide". That was it, I was hooked, I had met someone who talked more than me and he shared my love for photography.

I returned to see Lou later in the day and showed him my portfolio, every time he saw an image that moved him he would shout "beautiful look at the way you captured the scene", this usually prompted him to go and get a similar photograph from his bedroom next door, I in turn liked his photographs . It was wonderful two photographers chatting away and prodding each others egos. I liked Lou immediately and recognised something between us. I should also say that the age difference melted away, after that day Lou was just my friend.

I was still an amateur back then, I left America a frustrated photographer toying with the idea that I could someday turn professional. I remembered Lou's words "from this you can make a living" a phrase his mother would say to him, whenever he spoke of photography.

Whilst Lou wasn't the only person who helped and convinced me to turn professional, he was the only photographer, and that meant a lot to me.

I never had enough time with Lou due to the huge distance in miles between us, but I was always pleased to hear Dana Rae say he mentioned me often, sadly I never reciprocated the compliment back to him, I wish he knew how I regularly spoke to people about my photographer friend Lou.

To summarise my thoughts and friendship with Lou, I would like to show a message that I posted on the internet . Whilst we shared lots of themes photography was probably the catalyst for our friendship hence me posting this on an international website for photographers. Before I do I would also like to share my deepest condolences with Lou's family and friends.














Enough Already.

My Photographic friend and mentor Lou died this week aged 93.

Lou was a passionate photographer. He held his last exhibition this summer in Maine. Lou thought the way to get better at photography was to become a deeper human and to be curious about everything and every one regardless of race or religion.


He transported captured German soldiers back home to Europe after world war two, being Jewish he was told that he should hate them. Typically, Lou gave cigarettes to them and listened to their stories of home and how they missed loved ones. He thought we are all the same, but become misguided due to demagogue politicians and a polemic media, he never felt any hatred towards them, I think thats says a lot about Lou.


Lou worked the streets during the depression, his last job paid for his next roll of film, he thought digital makes us wasteful, the ability to keep shooting loses the moment in time, he always thought it better to shoot fewer shots as it makes you think more and compose better.


In Lou's mind, a photograph did not have to be technically perfect as long as it captured the moment and meant something. Lou taught me the art of photography, yet we never talked technical, he was always saying he wanted to see more of me in my work. When I showed him images he approved of, he would clap his hands together and shout "beautiful a Nigel photograph".


My fondest memory, is a conversation I had with him about our friendship, I told him the Spanish have a good word to describe it, Its called "Simpatico". He had a sharp intake of breath then looked at me with a serious face."Thats it" he said, "your right simpatico" and laughed repeating it over and over.

The image is my last shot of Lou taken about two months ago, He was being rushed out of the door by his home help, I feel bad because I never said goodbye properly. ""Genug shoyn my friend" its yiddish for "enough already", our little private joke should I find out he's gone.

Lou always said my photographs had a piece of myself in them, "that little bit of Nigel", however I should end with this, I would like to think my photographs will always have "a little piece of Lou in them".

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1 comment:

Geoff said...

I'm sure Lou is present in every photograph you take.

Your soul's are surely connected.

G